The coffee revolution in Paris

The coffee revolution that has transformed the start of the day
in cities such as Melbourne and London has finally surfaced in
Paris. To be sure, some of the most stately cafés turn out the
over-extracted, overheated swill most Parisians still drink, but,
if you know where to go, you can find a coffee that could pass in
Sydney or San Francisco. "Le flat white" is now French for
coffee.

In fact, there's an antipodean current running through many of
the best cafés in Paris. You might hear a familiar accent from
behind the bar, and some recognisable options on the menu when
you've pushed through the crowds at Holybelly - opened by Nico
Alary, who worked at Melbourne's Market Lane - on a quiet
backstreet off the stylish but still scruffy Canal Saint-Martin (holybel.ly). Or take a seat outside Fondation
Café, a tiny espresso bar close to the Square du Temple in the
Marais, opened by Sydney native Chris Nielson, who pulled shots at
Mecca Espresso.

Not that these shops are simply copies of what you find in
Australia. Some are in settings so regal and chic they could only
be in Paris. There's Honor, an exquisitely stark kiosk in the
courtyard of the Comme des Garçons building on the rue St-Honoré
(honor-cafe.com), and Café Kitsuné, a coffee
bar in the colonnaded arcade of the Palais Royale (shop.kitsune.fr).

It's that sense of place that sets these cafés apart. The real
draw of Télescope, where fashion insiders cosy up in a
buttercream-coloured room close to the Palais Royale, or Ten Belles
(tenbelles.com), where the attractively
dishevelled spill out onto the street off the Canal Saint-Martin,
is that they are populated by the tastemakers who give the city its
character. Go for the expertly made coffee, stay for the scene.